Thinking Time
by Raggazzed12
Summary: Written for the Probender Circuit Season 2 Round 1 Forum created by alyssialui. Training for war could never beat the love for his family that Hakoda holds safely in his heart; nor could it stop him from thinking about them after one long day. (Sorry if this is a horrible summary...)


**A/N: I'm back for the Pro-bending Circuit's Season 2! Love this! Okay, so here we go. After multiple people looking this story over and me having to fix who knows how many? sentences and whatnot, here we are, the finalized story/draft.**

 **Task:** **Firebender** **: Someone returning home after a long day.**

 **Prompt: (character) Hakoda**

 **Word Count (It's torture to have to this part again, though…): 1082 (not including Author's Notes)**

 **Yes, I only used one prompt. So here we go!**

Leaning down slightly to lift up the skins that served as a door to his house, he stuck his head in. The cries of happiness from his son and daughter met his ears as he did so, and they came running up to him. Hakoda ducked his head in and went inside, holding out both arms to meet his kids.

"Did you bring anything for us today, Daddy?" Katara asked in her small high pitched voice.

"Well, I did manage to grab a bunch of sea prunes for dinner." Hakoda grinned, his smile lit up the room.

"That's what we have every night." was the complaint from Sokka, who pouted, crossing his arms rather adorably.

"Well, I didn't get anything for you, but I'll make sure to mention it to Toku that I have two greedy kids at home." he replied with a wry smile as he ruffled Sokka's hair, ignoring his shouts of protest.

They laughed again, as he looked up at his wife. Kya smiled at him. He stood up and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her up into the air and kissing her. He laughed at her surprised expression and set her down.

"It's been a long day." he said at her surprised look. She nodded and eyed Sokka and Katara.

"Why don't you two go outside and play for a bit before dinner?" she said, and they nodded excitedly and ran out the igloo, Katara grabbing hold of her brother's shirt sleeve.

As soon as they were gone, Hakoda turned to his wife and smiled once more, but this time it was a weary smile. He was exhausted. Their army was training for a battle that would come any day now, and though he hated to admit it, he didn't like the idea of fighting the Fire Nation any more than Kya did. Katara was as carefree and unaware of it as ever, except for maybe Sokka, if only a little bit. He would often tell Hakoda how he wanted to be a great warrior like him someday. He knew that with the way this war was going, it would have to happen.

"Long day, huh? What happened?" Kya asked, moving over to stir the pot over the fire.

"A lot of training."

"You know, just because this war is high in demand for men like you, you don't have to join it or anything. No one is forcing you to do this." she said, trying to look as comforting as she could.

"Not doing this? Honey, this war has been going on for … so long. I have been fighting in it for a while. You know this, Kya. I was out there in enemy territory a few years ago. It's called the Hundred Year War for a reason, and they're going to come to us someday, and we need to know how to defend ourselves. If we don't… the Fire Nation will burn us down." Hakoda shuddered as he said this. Kya came and wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders, not smiling for she felt his fear, but she wanted to help in any way she could.

"Look, we will beat them. This war will not end in vain. I know the Avatar isn't around, but we can do this. This village will be safe. Always."

"I sure hope so." he muttered under his breath, only stealing a quick glance at his wife.

"So… the kids sure are happy you're home." she breathed, changing the subject.

"Yeah, they always are. I'm glad I'm home too."

"What did you do today that made you this exhausted? Sit down or something. You look like you're going to fall over." Kya gently guided him over to their bed, and he sat down, putting his hands in his face. After a moment he collected himself and lifted his eyes to hers.

"We trained a lot. Like I said. Mostly sword fighting. Not much else."

"Well at least they made you tired, I've never seen you this exhausted. You'll sleep well tonight." she laughed her beautiful laugh, and Hakoda smiled.

He sat there for a few minutes while she stirred the sea prunes and whatever else was in the pot and listened to the sounds of Sokka and Katara outside. Sokka was yelling something about being wet, and Katara was laughing. She had probably tried to bend again. His little angel was going to be a true Waterbender someday, and Hakoda knew it. She already had the determination. He knew it as well as he knew Sokka would be a great warrior. Sure, they didn't always get along, but most of the time, they were only teasing each other and not meaning any harm, which was what Hakoda loved about them both. No matter what, they still tried their hardest to annoy each other or love each other and it always seemed to work in their favor.

Looking over at Kya, gently stirring the pot and humming, he wondered what he had done to be given such a beautiful wife. It was just too amazing at times for him to understand. She wasn't just beautiful on the outside, her inside was just as beautiful, no matter what, and she always had an upbeat attitude, which was most likely where Katara got her equally cheerful countenance.

He leaned back and stared up at the roof. Maybe this was just what all people think about after a long day of work. He wasn't sure about the other members of his tribe, but his mind wandered to these sorts of things. His brain was accustomed to it from previous long days in training. The relationship he had with his family, and their attitudes always were on his mind after a day like this one. The roughness of camp could never beat out the love he held for them, no matter if it felt like he would drop over dead after so much had been shouted to him that he had a serious headache. Despite problems like these, his family was all the world to him, and if they were ripped from him, he would never forgive himself. War couldn't tear them apart, not when he was at the front line serving his life and trying to send them all the love possible, and long days certainly weren't any cause to get too stressed out, for they would be there when he came home. They would always be there when he came home.

 **A/N: This ending makes me sad… and I'm the one who wrote it. Well, I hope you liked it and it wasn't too short, I normally write these ones pretty short because it's easier. Thank you for reading and please, review, review, review!**


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